Device for storing vehicles

ABSTRACT

The invention provides a device for storing vehicles, which device comprises a plurality of storage locations for said vehicles lying beside and above each other, at least one exchange location connecting to the surroundings of the device, wherein all the aforesaid locations comprise an open supporting platform for supporting a vehicle. The device furthermore comprises means of transport for transporting a vehicle between said at least one exchange location and a storage location, said means of transport comprising a horizontally movable guide system for guiding a lift in vertical direction, which lift comprises a lift platform which can move in horizontal direction between said lift and said locations and which can pass an open supporting platform in vertical direction for transferring a vehicle between the supporting platform in question and the lift platform. The exchange location further comprises a fill-up platform which, in a closed position thereof, in which it is aligned with the open supporting platform of the exchange location, forms a substantially closed surface, wherein the fill-up platform can be moved in downward direction from the closed position in order to create space for the lift platform to pass the supporting platform of said at least one exchange location in vertical direction.

The invention relates to a device for storing vehicles, which devicecomprises a plurality of storage locations for said vehicles lyingbeside and above each other, at least one exchange location connectingto the surroundings of the device, wherein all the aforesaid locationscomprise an open supporting platform for supporting a vehicle, means oftransport for transporting a vehicle between said at least one exchangelocation and a storage location, said means of transport comprising ahorizontally movable guide system for guiding a lift in verticaldirection, which lift comprises a lift platform which can move inhorizontal direction between said lift and said locations and which canpass an open supporting platform in vertical direction for transferringa vehicle between the supporting platform in question and the liftplatform, said at least one exchange location further comprising afill-up platform which, in a closed position thereof, in which it isaligned with the open supporting platform of the exchange location,forms a substantially closed surface.

Within the framework of the invention, the term exchange location isunderstood to mean either an entrance location or an exit location, andit is noted that it is in principle also possible to combine theentrance location and the exit location to form a common location. Theentrance location functions as the starting point from where the vehiclein question, normally without any persons present therein, istransported to a storage location by the means of transport. At a laterpoint in time, the means of transport will move the vehicle from saidstorage location to the exit location, where the vehicle can exit thedevice. Especially if the vehicle is a car, the driver and anypassengers will leave the car at the entrance location and, after sometime, return at the exit location of the device, where they will getinto the car again and leave the device using the car. In order toenable persons associated with the car to move around the car at theexchange location in question in a comfortable and safe manner, it isnecessary, or at least highly desirable, for the support surface onwhich the car is present, which also extends beyond the car, to be atleast substantially closed, so that persons cannot step into openingsthat are present in the support surface. This closed nature of thesupport surface conflicts with the requirement that a lift platform of alift must be able to pass the support surface for transferring the car.This latter requirement makes it necessary for the support surface to beopen to a certain degree.

A device as referred to in the introductory paragraph is disclosed inInternational patent application W0-A1-99/06655. In this prior artdevice, the problem of the conflicting requirements made of the supportsurface at an exchange location is solved by providing a substantiallyclosed deck for a car as well as for persons surrounding the car, whichdeck consists of two open platform parts which, when they are aligned ina lower position of the two platform parts, form a substantially closeddeck. The two platform parts can be moved to an upper position by meansof a linkage mechanism, in which position the two open platform partsare positioned at different raised levels, as a result of which avertical distance is formed between the two platform parts, with the carbeing present on the upper one of the two open platform parts. Theaforesaid vertical distance makes it possible to move an open liftplatform of a lift in horizontal direction between the two platformparts, and upon upward movement of the lift platform the car istransferred from the upper platform part to the lift platform when thelift platform passes the upper platform part. The lower platform partcan be considered to be a fill-up plate.

After the car has been taken over by the lift platform, it can be placedin a storage location, whose bottom is formed by a supporting platformwhich, like the above-described upper platform part, has an open form,so that the lift platform can pass the open supporting platform of thestorage location in downward direction for transferring the car from thelift platform to the supporting platform of the storage location.Following that, the lift is available again either for transporting acar from a storage location to an exit location, to which end the aboveprocess is carried out in exactly the reverse order, or for collecting acar at the entrance location again and storing it at a storage location.

An important drawback of the prior art device as described above is theconstructional complexity thereof at the entrance location and the exitlocation. Said complexity is in particular caused by provisions such asthe linkage mechanism for lifting the two platform parts from theexchange location and moving them apart so as to enable passage of thelift platform between the two platform parts. Another important drawbackconcerns the safety aspect. In the lower position, the upper side of thesupporting platform is level with an entrance road to the supportingplatform. Since in the upper position not only the upper platform partof the supporting platform but also the lower platform part of thesupporting platform is positioned at a higher level than in the lowerposition, a hole is formed between the lower platform part and theaccess road. Thus there is a risk of persons (children, for example) oranimals (dogs, for example) somehow falling into said hole and gettinghurt or even worse.

It is a first object of the invention to provide a solution for thedrawbacks as described above, or in any case realise a significantimprovement in this regard. In addition to that, it is an object of theinvention, whether or not in preferred embodiments thereof, to provide adevice whose constructional characteristics are such that the device canbe operated with a high degree of reliability for a period of many yearsof intensive use.

In the light of the above objects, the device according to the inventionis first characterized in that the fill-up platform can be moved indownward direction from the closed position in order to create space forthe lift platform to pass the supporting platform of said at least oneexchange location in vertical direction. A first important advantageover the prior art is the fact that it is not necessary to use aseparate lifting mechanism at the exchange location for moving the carupwards and downwards. Instead, a mechanism that only needs to becapable of moving the supporting platform up and down and of supportingthe car as well for only a very short time during said vertical movementwill suffice. The fact is that once the fill-up platform is no longer inalignment with the open supporting platform of the exchange location,the car will be completely supported by the open supporting platform. Inaddition to the fact that this means a significant constructionalsimplification, it also means that the cycle time can be significantlyreduced because moving the fill-up platform up and down in unloadedcondition requires considerably less time than moving an (upper)supporting platform loaded by the weight of the car up and down whilstin the meantime creating or eliminating a spacing between two platformparts of an exchange location, as is the case with the prior art. Inaddition to that, the invention provides a possibility of making thesupporting platform of the exchange location immovable or stationary, sothat there will be no risk of a hole being formed between the supportingplatform of the exchange location and the area adjacent to saidsupporting platform. As far as the safety aspect is concerned, it isadded that in the unlikely event of a person or animal being present onthe supporting platform of the exchange location, the risk of saidperson or animal getting hurt is smaller when the fill-up platform ismoved in downward direction than in the case that one platform part, orboth platform parts associated with an exchange location, is (are) movedin upward direction, as is the case with the prior art.

A constructionally simple solution with a view to quickly creatingsufficient space for a lift platform under the open supporting platform,or to quickly forming a closed surface by the fill-up platform isobtained if the fill-up platform can be tilted in downward direction.

A very advantageous embodiment thereof is obtained if the fill-upplatform consists of two parts, which can each be tilted in downwarddirection about a tilting axis that extends parallel to the horizontaldirection of movement of the lift platform. On the one hand thisachieves that only a limited amount of space needs to be available underthe open supporting platform for accommodating the fill-up platform inthe swung-down position thereof, whilst on the other hand the tiltingaxes extending parallel to the horizontal direction of movement of thelift platform, which might also be a central, common tilting axis, makeit possible to move the lift platform under the supporting platform ofthe exchange location in a simple and trouble-free manner.

An optimum situation is obtained if the two tilting axes of the twoparts are disposed on two opposed longitudinal sides of the closedsurface. The lift platform can move between the two tilting axes and theswung-down parts of the fill-up platform in that case.

As already set forth above, making the supporting platform of theexchange location stationary, i.e. immovable, has major advantages bothfrom a constructional point of view and from a safety point of view.

According to a very special preferred embodiment, the lift comprises acounterweight, which is movable in the direction opposed to thehorizontal direction of movement of the lift platform. Thus, the bendingmoment exerted on the guide system by the horizontal movement of thelift platform can be limited or be reduced to zero.

It is advantageous in that case if control means are provided forcontrolling the movement of the counterweight in dependence on theweight of a vehicle supported by the lift platform. It can be imaginedthat the movement of the counterweight will be greater in the case of aheavy vehicle than in the case of a light vehicle, so that the bendingmoment exerted by the lift with its extended lift platform supporting avehicle can be minimised, which reduces the mechanical load, inparticular on the guide system, thus increasing the reliability andprolonging the life of said guide system.

A further improvement with regard to reducing a bending moment beingexerted on the guide system can be realised if the lift comprises aframe portion which is horizontally movable with respect to a fixedframe portion of the lift, along which movable frame portion the liftplatform is movable in horizontal direction. This makes it possible tocreate a great movability in horizontal direction of the lift platform,so that the lift platform can reach positions located relatively faraway from the lift, whilst in addition, if the lift platform occupies aretracted position, the lift platform is positioned at such a pointalong the horizontally movable frame portion that the centre of gravityof the lift will be located in the axis of the guide system or in theimmediate vicinity thereof.

A device which is constructionally simple on the one hand and which isvery reliable on the other hand is obtained if the lift is provided withan elongated, flexible tensioning element which is passed over a drivingelement being rotated by an electric motor for moving the counterweight,the movable frame portion or the lift platform, wherein either theelectric motor or the tensioning element is connected to thecounterweight, the movable frame portion or the lift platform. Such anelongated, flexible tensioning element may be a toothed belt, forexample.

Another constructionally advantageous embodiment is obtained if theguide system comprises four vertical legs disposed near the corners ofthe lift, which legs are interconnected at their lower sides and attheir upper sides, each leg comprising at least three interconnected,parallel leg beams. Said at least three interconnected, parallel legbeams ensure that a very stiff guide system can be realised, whichlikewise contributes towards improving the operation and reliability ofthe device.

Preferably, a further counterweight is movable between the leg beams ofa leg so as to enable vertical movement of the lift along the verticalguide. Thus, the space between the leg beams of a leg is utilised in auseful manner.

Stable, horizontal movement of the guide system is possible if a wheelis present under each of the leg beams of a leg for moving the guidesystem in horizontal direction.

In order to provide a highly reliable movement of the guide system inhorizontal direction, it is preferred to fit each leg with an electricmotor for driving at least one wheel of said leg.

Even more preferably, each leg is fitted with an electric motor for eachwheel thereof for driving all the wheels of the leg.

It is preferred to use an embodiment in which the legs of the guidesystem comprise no more and no fewer than three leg beams. The three legbeams can be arranged in the form of a triangle, which is in particularadvantageous if the guide system is rotatable about a vertical axis soas to enable horizontal movement of the guide system. In such asituation, one side of the triangle may extend along the circularcircumference that is described during rotation of the guide system,whilst another side of the triangle extends parallel to the lift, morespecifically to the longitudinal direction of the lift.

In order to reduce the noise level during horizontal movement of theguide system, the wheels preferably comprise rubber tyres.

According to another advantageous aspect of the invention, a screeningbody is present under open supporting platforms, the upper surface ofwhich screening body is preferably slightly inclined so as to effect thedischarge of liquids, such as oil, from a vehicle supported by thesupporting platform in question to a discharge system. In this way, avehicle present at a storage location is prevented from soiling avehicle present at a storage location positioned thereunder.

A suitable discharge of liquids can be obtained in particular if adischarge gutter, which extends transversely to the direction ofinclination of the upper surface, and which is connected to thedischarge system, is provided at one end of said upper surface.

It is explicitly pointed out that the preferred embodiments as describedabove with regard to the lift, more specifically the counterweight andthe method of driving the various parts of the lift by means of theelongated, flexible tensioning element, as well as the preferredembodiments of the guide system, in particular in combination with thewheels as described above, as well as the use of the screening body, canalso be used independently of each other and of the downward movement ofthe fill-up platform, as will be immediately apparent to those skilledin the art.

The invention will be explained in more detail hereinafter by means of adescription of a preferred embodiment of a device according to theinvention, in which reference is made to the following Figures:

FIG. 1 is a perspective, partially cut-away view of an automated parkinggarage;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the area where cars enter and exit theparking garage;

FIGS. 3-11 are perspective views of a number of successive situationsduring automated operation of the parking garage of a limited number ofparts of the parking garage that are necessary for a properunderstanding of the operation of the parking garage;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the situation that is shown in FIG. 10,exclusively insofar as it relates to the lift system, however;

FIGS. 13-15 show respective details XIII-XV in FIG. 12;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a wheel assembly.

FIG. 1 shows an automated parking garage 1. Said parking garage 1comprises a tubularly arranged matrix of radially oriented parkinglocations 2, each suitable for accommodating a vehicle. A lift system 3is present within the tubular matrix. The lift system 3 comprises a lift4 which can be moved in vertical direction along a lift guide 5. Thelift guide 5 is made up of a framework comprising four vertical legs 6,which are interconnected at their lower sides and their upper sides bylongitudinal beams 47 and a cross beam 48 extending transverselythereto, in the centre thereof, and by longitudinal beams 49 and a crossbeam (not shown in FIG. 1) extending there between.

Each leg 6 comprises three leg beams 7 arranged in the form of anequilateral triangle. One side of the triangle extends in a directionparallel to a longitudinal side of the lift, whilst another side of thetriangle extends parallel to the inner circumference of the matrix ofannularly arranged parking locations. Present within the triangularshape of the legs 6 are counterweights 8, which are used for moving thelift 4 in vertical direction. The lift system 3 is rotatable about thevertical axis of the tubular matrix of parking locations, on account ofthe presence of tangentially oriented wheels under each leg beam 7 ofeach leg 6 and a central bearing 9 in the centre of the cross beam 48.

FIG. 16 shows a wheel assembly 10 as present under each leg beam 7. Thewheel assembly 10 comprises a wheel 11 of vulcanised rubber which ismounted in bearings on either side. Centrally disposed above the wheel11 is a mounting plate 12 for mounting the wheel assembly 10 to the legbeam 7. The wheel assembly 10 is furthermore provided with an electricmotor 13 for driving the wheel 11.

The lift 4 comprises an extensible lift platform for vehicles, thusenabling, in a manner yet to be described in more detail, automateddelivery or receipt of vehicles at a specific parking location. Sincethe lift 4 is capable of vertical movement and the lift guide 5 iscapable of rotating movement, all parking locations 2 can be reached.

FIG. 2 shows part of the lower side of the parking garage 1, viz. thearea where cars 14 can enter and exit the parking garage 1. To that end,an entrance road 14 as well as an exit road 15 are provided. The parkinggarage 1 is provided with an entrance location 16 at the end of theentrance road 14, whilst an exit location 17 is present at the beginningof the exit road 15, which exit location is largely hidden from view bythe covering 18 above the entrance road 14 in FIG. 2. A covering 51 islikewise present above the exit road 15. The entrance location 16 andthe exit location 17 of the parking garage 1 are identical as regardstheir construction, as will become apparent yet hereinafter.

FIG. 3 shows (parts of) components of the parking garage 1, withreference to which, and also with reference to FIGS. 4-11, the automatedoperation thereof will be explained. The lift 4 comprises an elongatedcage construction 19 having an open front side 20, through which carscan be moved into the cage construction 19.

The lift 4 is to that end provided with an arm 21, which is movablealong the bottom of the cage construction 19, in the longitudinaldirection thereof, over which arm a lift platform 22 for cars is in turnmovable. Thus it is possible to move the lift platform 22 of the lift 4to an identical radial position as a supporting platform 23 of a parkinglocation. Such an extended position is shown in FIGS. 6, 9 and 10.

The lift platform 22 of the lift 4 comprises a central mounting beam 24,which extends in the longitudinal direction of the lift 4 and from whichregularly spaced tubes 25 having free ends extend on either side of thesupporting beam 24, perpendicularly to said longitudinal direction. Saidtubes 25 function to support the wheels of a car (not shown). The shapeof the supporting platform 23 of a parking location 2 is substantiallycomplementary to that of the lift platform 22: the supporting platform23 comprises two spaced-apart parallel mounting beams 26, from whichtubes 27 having free ends extend perpendicularly to said beams 26. Theshape of the supporting platform 23 and that of the lift platform 22 aresuch that the lift platform 22 can pass the supporting platform 23 invertical direction, during which passage the supporting beam 24 of thelift platform 22 is positioned between the free ends of facing tubes 27of the supporting platform 23, seen in top plan view, whilst the tubes25 of the lift platform 22 are positioned between adjacent tubes 27 ofthe supporting platform 23.

A counterweight 32 is movable in longitudinal direction along the upperside of the cage construction 19. By moving said counterweight 32 in adirection opposed to the direction of movement of the lift platform 22supporting a car, it is possible to achieve or approximate anequilibrium of moments, so that the mechanical load being exerted on thelift guide 5, or more specifically on the legs 6 thereof, can besignificantly reduced.

FIG. 12 for example shows the lift platform 22 in an extreme extendedposition thereof, in which the counterweight 32 occupies its extremeposition on the opposite side. The counterweight 32 is provided with anelectric motor, which drives a toothed wheel 33 (see FIG. 14) for movingthe counterweight. Present under the toothed wheel 33, on either sidethereof, are two pulleys 34, 35, whose axes of rotation extend parallelto that of the toothed wheel 33. A flexible toothed belt (not shown)extends between the front side and the rear side of the cageconstruction, within the gutter 36. The toothed belt is passed over thepulleys 34, 35 and the toothed wheel 33 in the manner that is shown inFIG. 13, with the teeth of the toothed belt meshing with the teeth ofthe toothed wheel 33. When the electric motor is driven, the toothedwheel 33 will be rotated, causing the counterweight 32 to move along thetoothed belt. It is conceivable in this connection to use a controlsystem (not shown) that makes the degree of movement (partially) dependon the weight of the car being supported by the lift platform 22. Thusthe extent of movement of the counterweight 32 will be greater in thecase of heavy cars than in the case of light cars, thereby making itpossible to approximate an equilibrium of moments as closely aspossible.

A comparable solution is provided for the movement of the lift platform22 with respect to the extensible arm 21. The lift platform 22 isprovided with a toothed wheel 37 to be driven by an electric motor (notshown), and with two pulleys 38, 39. A toothed belt 40 extending fromthe front side of the extensible arm 21 to the rear side thereof ispassed over said toothed wheel 37 and said pulleys 38, 39.

The situation as regards the way in which the extensible arm 22 isdriven with respect to the cage construction 19 is different to alimited extent, in the sense that it is not the extensible arm 21 butthe cage construction 19 itself that is centrally provided with atoothed wheel that can be driven by an electric motor 41 via atransmission 42, above which toothed wheel two pulleys 43, 44 arepositioned on either side thereof. The extensible arm 21 is providedwith a second toothed belt 45 extending parallel to the toothed belt 40,which second toothed wheel is passed over the toothed wheel (not shown)and the associated pulleys 43, 44. When the electric motor 41 is driven,it is not the electric motor with the parts being rigidly connectedthereto that will move along the second toothed belt 45, but instead thetoothed belt 45 with the extensible arm 21, including the lift platform22, will move past the electric motor 42. Said extending of theextensible arm 21 can take place on either end side of the cageconstruction 19.

Like the parking locations 2, the entrance location 16 is provided witha supporting platform 28, whose construction is nearly identical to thatof the supporting platform 23 of the parking location 2, with thisunderstanding that the facing tubes 29 of the supporting platform 28 areof square cross-section, extending along the full length of thesupporting platform, whereas the tubes 27 of the supporting platform 23are only present at those positions where wheels of a car are expectedto be supported.

Present at the entrance location 16 are also two swung-down floormembers 30, 31. In the raised position (as shown in FIG. 3), said floormembers 30, 31 jointly have the shape of the lift platform 22, with thisunderstanding that the shape thereof, which is complementary to theshape of the supporting platform 22, is continued even further, so thatthe floor members 30, 31 and square tubes 29 together form asubstantially closed surface, apart from a few narrow seams, thusenabling persons to move around a car present at the entrance locationin a safe and comfortable manner.

The floor members 30, 31 can be tilted about tilting axes extending atthe longitudinal sides of the entrance location 16 by means of hydraulictilting mechanisms, the tilting mechanism 32 for the floor member 30 isshown in FIG. 3. The swung-down position of the floor members 30, 31 isshown in FIG. 4, for example. It will be understood that the floormembers 30, 31 must not be swung down until all persons and animals haveleft the entrance location and access to the entrance location 16 is nolonger possible. Suitable sensors (not shown) can be used to establishwhether persons and/or animals are still present at the entrancelocation, whilst persons and/or animals are prevented from entering theentrance location, by means of doors (not shown) that are closed aftersaid persons and/or animals have left the entrance locations, while thefloor members 30, 31 are (being) swung down.

As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, for example, a screening body 52 havingthe shape of a hooked Ω, seen in vertical cross-sectional view, ispresent above each parking location 2. The upper horizontal plane ofsaid Ω-shape catches dirt from a car that is present on the supportingplatform of a higher parking location 2, thus protecting a car that ispresent under the screening body 52. Said dirt, such as leaking oil, islaterally discharged from the upper horizontal plane of the Ω-shape tothe lower horizontal portions of the Ω-shape, which are in turnconnected to a discharge system (not shown).

The operation of the automated parking garage 1 is as follows. A car 50approaches the parking garage 1. Once the control system 1 hasestablished that the floor members 30, 31 are in the raised, horizontalposition and that no car is present at the entrance location 16, thecage 46 is opened, so that the car driver can drive onto the closedsurface formed by the floor members 30, 31 and the supporting platform28 of the entrance location via the entrance road 14. The driver and anypassengers then get out of the car and leave the entrance location 16,which is subsequently closed by means of a second gate (not shown)present at the end of the covering 18. Once this gate is closed, thefloor members 30, 31 swing down (FIG. 4), as a result of whichsufficient space is created between the two floor members forpositioning the end of the extensible arm 21 and the lift platform 22there between, with the tubes 25 of the lift platform 22 beingpositioned precisely between the tubes 29 of the supporting platform 28of the entrance location 16 (FIG. 5), seen in top plan view. Verticalmovement of the lift 4 along the lift guide 5 achieves that the liftplatform 22 passes the supporting platform 28 of the entrance location16, taking over the car 50 from the supporting platform 28 during saidpassage (FIG. 6). Subsequently, the arm 21 and the lift platform 22 moveback again until the lift platform 22 is positioned in the centre of thelift 4. Rotation of the lift guide 5 and vertical movement of the lift 4along the lift guide 5 make it possible to align the lift 4 with eachparking location 2. For the sake of simplicity, the lift 4 is alignedwith a parking location 2 which is disposed above the entrance location16 in FIG. 8. The level at which the lift 4 is present at that point issuch that the lift platform 22 extends just above the supportingplatform 23 of the parking location 2, whilst the extensible arm 21extends just below said supporting platform 23. After the extensible arm21 and the lift platform 22 have been extended (FIG. 9), the lift 4 willmove to a lower level, during which movement the lift platform 22 passesthe supporting platform 23 of the parking location 2 and the car 50 istransferred from the lift platform 22 to the supporting platform 23(FIG. 10). Subsequently, the extensible arm 22 and the lift platform 22return to their original position (FIG. 11) and the lift is availableagain either for collecting a next car from the entrance location 16, orfor collecting a parked car from another parking location 2 anddelivering it at the exit location 17. The latter process takes place inexactly the reverse order of the process that has just been described.Although the floor members 30, 31 are shown in a swung-down position inFIGS. 7-11, it is also possible for the floor members 30, 31 to beraised already in these situations for supporting a next car.

1. A device for storing vehicles, which device comprises a plurality ofstorage locations for said vehicles lying beside and above each other,at least one exchange location connecting to the surroundings of thedevice, wherein all the aforesaid locations comprise an open supportingplatform for supporting a vehicle, means of transport for transporting avehicle between said at least one exchange location and a storagelocation, said means of transport comprising a horizontally movableguide system for guiding a lift in vertical direction, which liftcomprises a lift platform which can move in horizontal direction betweensaid lift and said locations and which can pass an open supportingplatform in vertical direction for transferring a vehicle between thesupporting platform in question and the lift platform, said at least oneexchange location further comprising a fill-up platform which, in aclosed position thereof, in which it is aligned with the open supportingplatform of the exchange location, forms a substantially closed surface,characterized in that the fill-up platform can be moved in downwarddirection from the closed position in order to create space for the liftplatform to pass the supporting platform of said at least one exchangelocation in vertical direction.
 2. A device according to claim 1,characterized in that the fill-up platform can be tilted in downwarddirection.
 3. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that thefill-up platform consists of two parts, which can each be tilted indownward direction about a tilting axis that extends parallel to thehorizontal direction of movement of the lift platform.
 4. A deviceaccording to claim 3, characterized in that the two tilting axes of thetwo parts are disposed on two opposed longitudinal sides of the closedsurface.
 5. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that thesupporting platform of the exchange location is stationary.
 6. A deviceaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the lift comprises acounterweight, which is movable in the direction opposed to thehorizontal direction of movement of the lift platform.
 7. A deviceaccording to claim 6, characterized in that control means are providedfor controlling the movement of the counterweight in dependence on theweight of a vehicle supported by the lift platform.
 8. A deviceaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the lift comprises a frameportion which is horizontally movable with respect to a fixed frameportion of the lift, along which movable frame portion the lift platformis movable in horizontal direction.
 9. A device according to claim 5,characterized in that the lift is provided with an elongated, flexibletensioning element which is passed over a driving element being rotatedby an electric motor for moving the counterweight, the movable frameportion or the lift platform, wherein either the electric motor or thetensioning element is connected to the counterweight, the movable frameportion or the lift platform.
 10. A device according to claim 1,characterized in that the guide system comprises four vertical legsdisposed near the corners of the lift, which legs are interconnected attheir lower sides and at their upper sides, wherein each leg comprisesat least three interconnected, parallel leg beams.
 11. A deviceaccording to claim 10, characterized in that a further counterweight ismovable between the leg beams of a leg so as to enable vertical movementof the lift along the vertical guide.
 12. A device according to claim10, characterized in that a wheel is present under each of the leg beamsof a leg for moving the guide system in horizontal direction.
 13. Adevice according to claim 12, characterized in that each leg is fittedwith an electric motor for driving at least one wheel of said leg.
 14. Adevice according to claim 13, characterized in that each leg is fittedwith an electric motor for each wheel thereof for driving all the wheelsof the leg.
 15. A device according to claim 10, characterized in thatthe legs of the guide system comprise no more and no fewer than threeleg beams.
 16. A device according to claim 10, characterized in thatsaid wheels comprise rubber tyres.
 17. A device according to claim 1,characterized in that a screening body is present under open supportingplatforms, the upper surface of which screening body is preferablyslightly inclined so as to effect the discharge of liquids, such as oil,from a vehicle supported by the supporting platform in question to adischarge system.
 18. A device according to claim 17, characterized inthat a discharge gutter, which extends transversely to the direction ofinclination of the upper surface, and which is connected to thedischarge system, is provided at one end of said upper surface.